The vision of Fairfax First Baptist church focuses on making disciples who will “Love God supremely, Love Others as Yourself, Share the Gospel of Jesus.” Our discipleship process shows our plan for accomplishing this vision in four cyclical steps:Invite the Community: People who do not have a church home include Christians who have dropped out of church, people who have not yet believed in Jesus, people who are new to our community, and even people who sometimes visit our church but are not coming regularly.The number one thing we can do is invite them to come to church or a small group. The more often we invite someone, the more likely they are to come. Once is rarely enough. Our visitation teams go out to invite people we know are new to our area or may be interested in our church. Other special events present an opportunity to invite people back who have come before or who have expressed interest in coming. Every church member can help by praying for members of the community who do not have a church home, personally inviting people to church, and identifying people for our visitation teams to visit. Sunday School classes can invite people as well. Please forward names and contact information of people you know in our “community” that we can invite.Connect to Small Groups: People do not feel connected to a church unless they build relationships with others. Joining a small group makes you five times more likely to stay in a church. In our church, small groups include Sunday School classes, special Bible studies during the week, Young at Heart, WMU, Discipleship Training, Discipleship Groups, Wednesday night prayer meeting, and children’s groups.Small group leaders should work with other members of their group to invite people in the congregation (and the community) to visit their group. Small groups connect people by building relationships and learning about the personal lives of others. They may do things together outside of church meetings. They seek to encourage one another to grow as disciples of Christ in a personal way.Equip the Connected: Once someone is connected to the church, they need to find a place (or places) to serve others. We have six ministry teams in the church for people to join. Spiritual growth requires serving others. Each church member should consider their gifts and passions and find a place where they can serve. Sunday night services, discipleship groups, practices, and special events are designed to equip church members for ministry.Engage the Community: The discipleship process is ineffective if it is a dead end. We want to make disciples who make disciples. Every Ministry Team has a role in engaging the community in order to bring new people into the discipleship process.